1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a welding head making it possible to measure welding parameters thanks to means for viewing the welding scene.
2. Discussion of the Background
The invention has numerous applications in most high-technology industrial fields, such as the space, farm produce, aeronautics and nuclear fields. More specifically, it can be applied within an automatic welding system.
Conventional automatic welding systems systematically reproduce predefined sequences. Actually, the welding parameters tied, in particular, to the path followed by the welding head are first developed for nominal welding conditions; they are then recorded and used for all welds, regardless of the conditions in which the welding scene occurs. Nevertheless, these welding conditions are only very rarely constant, and the random disturbances they exhibit are generally not controlled. These disturbances such as, for example, positioning deviations, approach deviations, and deformations can be the cause of defects having unfortunate consequences (rejects, for example).
It is known, partly to correct some of these defects, to use sensors installed on preexisting welding systems. Such devices are described in the book "Robots de soudage, capteurs et adaptativite de trajectoire," [Welding robots, sensors and path adaptivity], in the series "Traite de soudage automatique" [Treatise on automatic welding], published by Hermes publishers under the signature of J. M. Detriche, in 1988.